Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Up early, I stripped the bed and made it up again with a fleece sheet bottom and a crisp white cotton sheet top. My morning cup of coffee was waiting for me by the time I arrived in the kitchen. John had already been downtown for the paper and was seated at the table reading intently, sipping his coffee every so often.

I popped a piece of 12-grain bread into the toaster, measured out my tablespoon of peanut butter, and then leaned back into the cabinet waiting. I decided to feed the pets; they always appreciate my remembering, and while I nibbled on my peanut butter toast, I wandered about the house looking for my shoes.

For in those few short moments I had decided to go for a morning walk. Perhaps reading about Happyone's morning walks had influenced me. I have enjoyed her descriptions of spring mornings and wondered if I might find anything of interest. That, and I had nothing planned here at the blog. =D

I was not disappointed. The birds were in full song. Try as I might to capture one's photo, I could not. I took a number of photos of tree tops and managed to miss every single soprano and a tenor or two. The chickadees were singing their spring song, "Phoebe, Phoebe, Phoebe."

The river beckoned, I could hear the water gushing over the rocks. When I arrived there, I didn't see a lot of "over the rocks" action at all. This is a bit concerning as there are fears of a drought. I did see the sun on the water and took a careful shot lest I put your eye out.

Do you see the garbage? Ugh. Why do I feel compelled to point it out?

~A reflection of the old mill and a gnarled root system exposed.~

No flowers, lots of birdsong, brisk morning air (30F), and bright sunshine—exhausting. ☺ I turned for home and found Haven waiting.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Some gals get excited about the real thing. Me? I got so excited about these little chickies you wouldn't believe. They're a gift from my daughter who purchased them nearly a decade ago, tossed them into a drawer, and they just got out yesterday. I think they're happy, too. This is definitely a case of the bottom of the vase being more interesting than the top.

Look at those darling expressions! They really should be careful, though. Every time I walk past, I think that they look good enough to eat.

A few days ago, I was searching Google for an appropriate image to use for this Palm Sunday, I found one showing Christ entering Jerusalem on the back of an ass's colt. He looked regal enough if He had been riding a stallion. I kept looking at it and looking at it thinking Lord, why? Why did you choose a colt? You look kind of silly. What man would choose an ass much less the colt of an ass?

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

One answer is that to do so was the fulfillment of prophecy: Zechariah 9:9. The other answer: to show His love for you, for me.

Again, we must decide what we think of this Jesus. Today. This week...

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. ... Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. ~C.S.Lewis

This week will give us many times to reflect. If we were time traveling, we could see Jesus riding into Jerusalem today on the colt; tomorrow, we would see Him clearing the temple; by Tuesday, He'll be making an amazing escape from those who wanted to capture Him; Thursday, He is making preparations to celebrate Passover in an Upper Room; He will spend a vile night being abandoned, questioned, beaten, and by Friday. Well, by Friday, we know...

Saturday, March 31, 2012

I so seldom show you the unlovely and, when I do, I cover it with something pretty. In *this case,* I covered it with a butterfly, copying a device PW once used. (In fact, I found that post by searching for "rip-off" and I was shocked to discover how often I have ripped people off in this blog of mine. Four pages of rip-offs! Scary.)

~Garbage from here...~

The butterfly was covering a truck wreck sitting in the backyard of a neighbor. This unsightly view is clearly visible to us as we sit at our dining table. (The mess is, in fact, the reason we so seldom sit at the dining room table.) Since that time, nearly four years ago now, the property has become so run down that I use a severe camera angle when taking a photo of my near neighbor's beautiful trees and home.

~to there~

Four years ago, the property was purchased by a family with three boys in their teens. Perhaps they were a hardworking family. Perhaps the man of the house was working hard to raise plants in his basement, if the traffic every Thursday was any indication. Perhaps life was very hard. It is for a lot of people these days.

Anyway, to make a long story shorter, the house went into foreclosure; it took two years to have the process work its way through the system; the family, now a broken one, left a few months ago. The house sat in its own filth over the winter and was finally purchased for a song this spring. (Some of our neighbors looked at it to see if there was any way to purchase it as a fixer-upper and determined that there was simply too much to do. Bulldozing seemed the only option.)

I tell you all this to show you exactly what I see from my windows daily. These days I am encouraged because a new owner is gutting the house and has brought in a giant dumpster. It may be a long, hot summer, but one day there'll be improvement. The house is going to be rented out or flipped. The current owner isn't sure. One thing is certain: he has a lot of work ahead of him.

Thing is, there are many homes in town that are in equally rough shape. (In fact, I have never seen the town look any more in shambles even during the C*rter years, which were difficult times as well.) I grumble about the disgrace of it all because it is one thing to be poor and another to not pick up the trash. It is one thing not to be able to afford new siding (I well know) and another to allow the shutters to hang by the last nail. There is one thing about taking down the shutters and quite another about leaving the Christmas tree on the front step. I think people's spirits are in shambles, too. Yes, I'm feeling disgruntled today. I feel as if I'm walking around in 1932. Am I the only one feeling this way?

Friday, March 30, 2012

This is not a tutorial. I am showing my process minus detailed explanations. Google, if you need details, and you'll find many tutorials that do a fine job.

So I had an idea. It was a gathering of ideas from many different places including *this post* at Sweet Nothings. It was a swirling of thoughts over the past months about how to find more presence in my displays in the home, how to incorporate meaning into those displays, and how to work with what I already have.

So I had this old frame purchased at The Christmas Tree Shop in 2008. ☺ It had a garish print perfectly matching what was going on at our place. After a very short while, I grew weary of it and tossed it into a hallway corner where it's been gathering dust for the past two years.

When I took the frame apart, I found a nice sturdy backing hard as a board. Excellent.

Going directly to the computer, I found a font I liked and a size that would work and printed off Joel 2:25. The photo above shows testing the font behind the old print. The computer screen lit it up nicely. I was looking for a font that could be traced and filled in.

Found my burlap, cut the correct size, ironed it well, placed the font beneath the burlap and centered it more or less...I had extra. Then I carefully traced the outline using a black Sharpie.

Then all I had to do was fill it in. This is for John. It's his favorite verse. He considers it his promise from the Lord. Some might consider it his "life verse." Does he like this project? The jury's still out on that...

I wrapped the burlap around the sturdy whatever.it.was. and taped the edges on the back down. That's the really ugly part. I'm not sure how such things are professionally done.

So to sum it all up:

Meaningful √

More Presence √

Used What I had √

Now I'm waiting for some light so that I can show you where it is. (I'll pop another photo in soon. Done!)

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Welcome to my world; I won't mind if you don't want to come on in... ☺

Snow was promised for tonight and came a day early and probably is coming tonight as well. Poor lilacs with their buds already set and poor daffodils all smashed low. Even the poor plate is bowed. At least the maple sap bucket looks good now. So, tell me, what's the temp in your world?

***

I have been working on a button for the Note Card Party and will have it available later in the morning. Look for it on my sidebar. It'll be linked to a post explaining the rules without any additional phrasing. Thanks!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

I tell you, the most that I've accomplished all day, thus far, is to boil eggs. It's pathetic. I'm blaming the return to winter. I'm going to make cookies in a few minutes. Does that count as something? How about you? Tell me about your accomplishments of the day. Perhaps I'll be spurred to action.

***

~Gifts from Little Birdie Blessings~

Abby sent me these sweet cards created using digital art. They are so pretty. I am now in the market for a frame to display them in my bedroom. Sweet promise from the Word of God. Abby offers many vintage images with Christian themes. If you haven't checked out her blog, you can find her and them at Little Birdie Blessings. Thank you so much, Abby!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Because I heard on the Garden Hotline that if you cut daffodils for an indoor bouquet and then give them a little shake, they'll last days longer. I'm thinking of gathering some to allow to bloom in the house. We need cheering now that we've slipped back to March days that are windy and chill.

***

~Gritty Determination~

Darling grand is headed back to school this week. I certainly hope that no one clocks him at 13 mph! He's been chomping at the bit to get back to work and to see his teacher and all his friends.

***

I learned this from Quill Cottage. Wouldn't you know that Miss Sandy would mention something that would send me scurrying! It's a new photo editing program that doesn't require registration: iPiccy. Very cool. Very fun. I did Sam's picture above using it and all the mosaic pictures of yesterday with it. Hey! Come back here!!

***

~Print directly to the Paper~

In the current issue of Country Living, they provide an addy to an *envelope template.* You could use any sort of paper for it. My sister brought me her 2011 Lang calendar and so I used that. CL suggests printing the template and cutting the paper using the pattern. I suggest that you trim the paper you wish to use to standard copy paper size and print the template directly on the back side of the pattern, which becomes the inside of the envelope instead. Far fewer goofs that way. Also, anyone to whom you send the envelope has a template to use.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

John woke me at five this morning just as I had requested. What was so urgent of a Saturday morning? Two words: Easter Bread.

My sister, her husband, and her daughter were all coming for breakfast at 8 and I had to have Easter Bread freshly baked. It's just a terrible chore don'tcha know. ;> Then I heard my cell phone beeping and found a message saying that things were going to be delayed for an hour, which one might think would have given me more time to document. Not so much. I thought of the camera when the aroma of baking bread wafted about.

There I am in my ooh-la-la apron peeking through the oven door at my nicely baking loaves. Oh, there's Molly right there peeking through the oven door with me. That dog has a nose for news. Gosh that's a great picture!

Then we had a delicious breakfast that included a savory egg casserole, crispy bacon, Gevalia coffee, refreshing orange juice, rum pound cake from Jamaica, and Easter Bread. We were so full. Did I think of the camera? No. Did I take a photo of the yummy food? No. My family? No.

Therefore, portions of this post have been re-created. Easter Bread, coffee, and frosting. Oh yum. What I won't do for the cause!

~Something to Cheep About~

If you've never eaten Easter Bread before, you can find the world's best recipe for it right *here* at Mennonite Girls Can Cook or you can stop by this evening and I'll brew up a pot of tea and we'll have ourselves a time. Sprinkles! I knew that I'd forgotten something...

Friday, March 23, 2012

Reality sets in this morning as we return to normal spring weather. Still we have our memories. ☺ Four days of glorious temperatures, low humidity, and dreams.

Dreams arrived in the mail yesterday in the form of books, postcards, and art. What a blessed gal am I!

Brenda of Coffee Tea Books and Me sent me two classics: L'Abri and Hidden Art by Edith Schaeffer. If you read Brenda's remarkable blog, you know that she discusses books often; she has referred to both books more than a few times. I sat down at my earliest opportunity to read and I was not surprised that she references the books often nor was I disappointed in what I was reading. I'm only 41 years behind, and longer, with these wonderful books. Thank you, Brenda. (Brenda announced a new venture in yesterday's post. Check it out!)

Kate of Postcards From a Real Life sent me postcards. Wonderful postcards. They feature Maine scenes of 100 years and more ago. What a thoughtful thing to do...thanks so much, Kate!

This one is meaningful to me as I spent many happy summer days at Schoodic Lake. A family member has a year-round home there and I do believe he'd have some interest in this postcard.

My paternal side of the family hails from Bangor. Wonder if they know any Seaveys. Love the writing on the back of the card on the right. Jack wrote it. Jack and not Lee, Jack's wife. I'm not sure if I believe it. Perhaps Lee wrote it for him. What do you think?

This last package contained gifts and my order. I have loved this piece since Miss Sandy (Quill Cottage) first featured it over a year ago now — maybe over two. She recently decided to sell some things that have been "piling up." I hope that she doesn't regret sending this to me because I love it. Love is not too strong a word to use either as the layers of design and thought and meaning in this creation just amaze me.

...a Christian, above all people, should live artistically, aesthetically, and creatively. We are supposed to be representing the Creator who is there, and whom we acknowledge to be there...If we have been created in the image of an Artist, then we should look for expressions of artistry, and be sensitive to beauty, responsive to what has been created for our appreciation. ~Edith Schaeffer